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Friday, 18 May 2012

Hoist by His own Petard?

Phew. Thank goodness for that! "Worried veterans" will now be exempt from "humiliating retests" that could have seen them "stripped of vital cash" They will no longer get the "same grilling as cheats and scroungers."

I thought you said "genuinely disabled people" had nothing to fear from disability benefit cuts?

I thought you said we needed a humiliating grilling to ensure we got the right support? What if our "brave heroes" don't get this promised support? How will they find work? How can you be sure they won't just "fester"?? Are you not "abandoning them to a lifetime on the scrapheap?"

So which is it Mr Cameron? If the tests are fair, then surely ex-military personnel have nothing to fear? If they are not assessed, how will you avoid all the festering?

If the assessments for sickness and disability benefits are not fair, then did you not ought to be booking a one way tickets to Strasbourg, to attend a trial over the breach of human rights of over 5.2 million disabled people?

What of other limbless souls. Is there something more inherently worthy in losing a limb in battle than losing one saving a child from an oncoming train? Is a soldier with PTSD more worthy than an aid worker? Is an airman suffering terrible disfiguration from artillery somehow more disfigured than the woman who had acid thrown in her face so she could never marry the "wrong" man. Are you sure they're "more worthy"?

Or is it as many of us have known all along? The tests are a "humiliating grilling" "genuinely disabled" people will be "stripped of vital cash", and you don't care one tiny bit unless the disability fits your Eton-narrow view of "worthy"?

To maintain the military metaphor, I believe Mr Cameron, you have been hoist by your own petard sir.

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By the way, I absolutely refuse to fall for their divide and conquer. I'm delighted for those service men and women who no longer have to live in fear. Every step forward is a step in the right direction. I just hope they will join with the rest of us to stop the persecution of all sick and disabled people.

They only said that the worried veterans wouldn't get retested. I assume some/many who are injured in the future will not get the benefits that others would as they will be subject to the tighter PIP criteria rather than those used for DLA?

I do see a justice in the state making stronger provision for people injured in military service (I see arguments in both directions, to be fair, but I lean towards the idea that if we actively ask people to risk life and limb for 'national security', we have to be ready to support them when they lose the limb but keep the life). I just don't think it should be done by the DWP. MoD need to be the ones forking out to support (physically or psychologically) injured soldiers, sailors and airmen. We, the people, need to be able to see the real cash cost of our military activity. That won't happen as long as the DWP is picking up the pieces of the results of military action.

(NB: similar arguments can be made about the NHS as well, though I don't know to what extent medical care for battle injuries is provided by the NHS. It would make sense for the long term care to be provided by the NHS and then billed to the MoD where it can clearly be attributed to the person's military experience.)

I may well be stirring up a huge hornets nest here but I'd like to point out that no-one "asks" people to risk life and limb. Soldiers are not surprised by the fact that they have to do this. It is their job. It is what they signed up to do, knowing full well what the risks are.And for the record, I am an army brat and have been surrounded by the army for most of my life.I do agree that this needs to come from the MoD and not DWP budgets though, although this has does have the potential to create yet more inequality in what financial support disabled people can receive.

I'm puzzled, my father-in-law was a WW2 Burma Railway veteran but he still used to get regular check ups and medicals to ensure that he was entitled to his disabled war pension. So why have they changed?

Who is HE to say who is worthier than who else - Yes they fought for our country but many people do other things also.

So I am unworthy as I did not fight? I am scum because I got M.S. I am a liar and a faker just because HE said so????

Well LOOK IN THE MIRROR CAMERON - If I am scum for being disabled - Are YOU not scum for claiming DLA when you are a multi millionaire and You DID NOT NEED THAT DLA YOU CLAIMED!!??

You say we do not NEED DLA some of us - Did you need it?

Pot - kettle - ? Hmmmmmm??????

So you had no need of DLA yet you had it - And I have need of it yet I am labeled scum and You dont want me to have it TO BE ABLE TO LIVE., When you could have used some of your hidden money, with the unpaid tax your accountant helped you to not pay, to pay your needs - But YOU are allowed what us scumbags arent eh.

That man (Scameron) Is just there and all his eton pals are rubbing their grimy hands together knowing their eton pal is going to send the monies their way. The country being bled dry is NOT by DLA or welfare in any way - This country is being bled dry by the doffers of the rich getting bigger and bigger at the expense of the poor people who do 99% of the work FOR these rich lazy cretins!

The wholecountry should bloody well go on strike - And nothing gets done until this evil govt stop attacking the poor and giving to the rich! The country is carried on the backs of the poor - And the poor will revolt one day and the rich will fall - They have been carried far far too long!

Servicemen have always been treated poorly in regards to medical matters and are often faced with very STUPID criteria based on the stated reasons for discharge as opposed to structured medical information per say, that can make a claim for pensions etc difficult. I feel they are exploited in the hope as loyal servants to the Crown, the MoD and the Govt. a fuss will not be kicked up. The NHS do provide, but are not specific to service personnel unless there is a dedicated unit within an NHS hospital under the auspices of a Forces Commander, such as can be found at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. Certainly, an NHS doctor should refer to any forces medical unit if the patient is admitted with duty related injuries, with a mind to co-work care for that patient.

Getting back to us lazy benefit scrounging 'robbing the country of its resources' toerags....

In my case, I have 30 MRI scans showing a brain tumour that basically cost me my 32 year career as a Registered Nurse, which is growing. Add to that mobility problems, balance issues with falls, seizures etc with 3 consultants on the case. Yet in 10 minutes time, my advocate (a friend) will be standing before a tribunal in Truro arguing why I should get another £30 a week DLA (currently £80 a month). I already know that as an ex public sector worker (NHS) with a pension now that barely covers my mortgage and bills, leaving me £40 a month left to live on without benefits, the Daily Mail alone will hate my guts. Go figure.

Cameron appears to be admitting to and condoning a two-tier benefits system. I don't recall voting for this. Do soldiers pay more National Insurance than the rest of us, do they pay it in some worthier coin? Why then should they be given preferential treatment? They themselves should be asking, is this what they're fighting for, are these the values they've risked and lost limbs to preserve?

To which might be added, how can the government credibly suggest a doctor and specialist on the one hand be trusted to decide whether an individual from the armed forces is too sick to work but the same doctor and specialist can't make that decision about someone in civvy street? How can doctors' and specialists' decisions only be accurate about enlisted personnel and not civilians?

i think all cases should be on merit of evidence not specific groups, i agree much of this is public pressure and is trying to divide & rule. the whole welfare reform should be reversed and rethought out properly by someone who cares and has a sense of fairness for all.

WELL LISTEN UP DAVE... YOU WILL BE OUT OFFICE FAST THAN DOSE OF EPSOM SALTS, AND I WILL STILL BE HERE FIGHTING THE IDEOLOGY OF SCROUNGERS AND CHEATS ON THE GROUND SHOWING YOU AND YOUR COHORTS FOR BEING THE LYING CHEATING TAX AVOIDING SCUM YOU REALLY ARE.

If a soldier shouldn't be stripped of his benefits then neither should the genuinely disabled! We know this is wrong but the Bullingdon boys have always lived in a 2 tier society comprising the rich vs the rest of us, so why are you surprised?

I haven't yet seen this story, regarding different treatment of disabled service personnel. But, if someone is living with a disability, how can the reasons for it be relevant if the end result is the same?

Just a 'P.S' about this word 'fester' which we keep hearing..how dare Ian Duncan Smith and others use this word in connection with us! My dictionary definition is 'become septic, suppurate, rot'..what a truly dreadful man he is, every time I see his well-fed face I want to slap it.

It's really ridiculous how Cameron tries to be popular. He's made sure that the public hate DLA recipients so the main reason he cuts benefits to 'scroungers' is the hope he'll be re-elected. Medical provision for soldiers has been cut in recent years so to get service personnel voting for him, plus Sun readers who've been whipped into a jingoistic frenzy, he comes out with this. No thought of any of the people involved, services or not, everyone's purpose iOS to massage his ego. All this dioes Dave is to show what an unfeeling egocentric stupid bastard you are

Before the first Gulf war what level of care did service personnel get I can't remember., but I don't think they got any better prosthetics than the man/woman on the NHS.Because they where thrown into conflict by a lying Prime Minister who was conned by the Puppet Masters in the USA to go after the weapons of mass destruction (which still haven't been found and a war in Afghanistan (which again we have no place to be) all of a sudden the forces get preferential treatment why because Westminster has to pay conscience money to try to clear their conscience for the balls up they made which has seen so many of our troops returning home missing limbs,suffering stress and other illnesses.I do not begrudge the troops having the care they are getting but I do begrudge the two tier system being forced on other amputees.Does a fireman ,policeman ,paramedic or anyone else working in the emergency services who suffers an amputation due to an accident at work or through civil unrest get the same benefits or are they like the rest of the "scroungers" in civvy street,and if they do meet the forces criteria where and who determines who else meets it.

David Rathband, the policeman who was shot by Raoul Moat was only awarded the lower rate mobility by the DWP. The biggest obstacle he said he had to deal with was for his independence and mobility and he likened having to appeal this decision to "a battle with the DHSS".

He struggled to come to terms with his injuries and the horrific effect they had on him and his family. His marriage broke down and tragically he committed suicide.

How can you compare a soldier, to a policeman, to a fireman, to a nurse, to a teacher.. and on it goes. Where do you draw the line at who is worthy of support and who is not? You can't! It is grossly immoral to suggest that one life is more worthy than another. If PC Rathband's experience shows anything, it's that more care and support ought to be given, not less and no one should be excluded or exempt.

David Rathband, the policeman who was shot by Raoul Moat was only awarded the lower rate mobility by the DWP. The biggest obstacle he said he had to deal with was for his independence and mobility and he likened having to appeal this decision to "a battle with the DHSS".

He struggled to come to terms with his injuries and the horrific effect they had on him and his family. His marriage broke down and tragically he committed suicide.[/QUOTE]

This was a very tragic case made much worse by a bad DWP decision to award him a low rate for mobility instaed of high. In my personal opinion and of vast experiences in the challenging of benefit and tax decision's i do believe that it was his daily battles with the DWP that pushed him over the edge and not that of his marriage breakdown although that may have played a part

The DWP battles are very intense as you are trying to get your points across sometimes lasting 2 hours on the phone or in the department without a break and with much shouting and war of wards going on with voices raised as you try to get justice for yourself. The DWP know all the right buttons and words to use to manipulate you in to a state of violence so the police have to called and it could well have been one of those lengthy sessions that David had which in turn he felt he could not go on. To David's family i can honestly say that i have been down this route with the DWP and then felt the need to commit suicide and have been talked out of it by those that have come like the police to rescue me

The brain gets very muddled in these long weekly/monthly battles with the DWP and the mental effects on how you will react are really in the lap of the gods and no one can say for certain on what their reaction would be.

David Cameron and co praised David Rathband on his recovery which meant nothing as he was being stabbed in the back by the DWP at the time of his death and that my friends makes David Cameron and co very dangerous as what happened to David Rathband, could and will be happening to us very soon

Good post Sue, as always. Cameron has surpassed himself in oiliness. Will be interesting to see what, if any, stance Liam Byrne takes, in the light of his recent Beveridge2 lecture.Hope there is some improvement in life for you soon.

If any war verteran has to have an artificial leg and gets his benefits, where does that leave a non war verteran who lost his leg other than in a war? I thought they were reassessing amputees on whether they can manage daily living with a prosthetic? Not that I think that's right anyway. Anyone with a disability is limited in some way but for some reason Cameron and IDS don't seem to have caught on to that fact. Your benefits go towards whether or not you can get a job, so you may have to buy food with the money, it may go towards equipment and the constant maintaining of that equipment - it doesn't stop with just the purchase of such items - or for some it's being able to pay for medication that you don't get free if you live in England. I'm in Wales. One reason I moved here was because the prescriptions are free and I'm on at least five regular items of medication each month and can't afford to pay for them. By living in Wales I'm saving that money towards the car I need to keep on the road. I'm sure many more disabled people can add more to the above list. Maybe we should put a list together for Cameron and IDS and show just what we won't be able to buy, keep, or do for ourselves once we loose this money, so unless he's going to come up with some grand job for each of us from somewhere (and that's for just the few who may be able to do something but what?) then some of us, me included will be adding to the homeless on the streets and I won't be doing it quitely or invisibly either.

I raise a glass (Decent Aussie white) and smoke a fag Davie boy... Not to you; that'd be a complete waste... Most of the people I know, me included; and have known; worked, paid in to the system and then expected the state to help look after us in our time of need. Not just as pensioners, but as sick, disabled and vulnerable people. Where has the BIG SOCIETY gone? I'll tell you where... In the pockets of the bankers, the fat cat permanent civil servants and ridiculous shams (smoke and mirrors) of so called companies/organisations supposed to help with jobs that aren't and never were there...

As always this blog is spot on and it shows David Cameron in a bad light to the extent that he'll be out of the government at the next election as i cant for the life of me in how a person can run the country with such a muddled way of thinking with regards people who are sick and disabled

His thought process is non existence on all matters of public welfare which makes him a very dangerous person in the government and all the time he remains in office the sick and disabled will suffer irrespective of what illness or disability they have

As Sue says, this decision makes absolutely no sense.While I am sure everyone is pleased service personnel won't be put through this abomination, it begs the question then what is the retesting process really for?

The government line is that it is all about helping the disabled back into work, not about hounding people or saving money.

So, do soldiers not "deserve" this extra special help to get back into work then? Are they to be shut out of all the valuable Work Programmes? So, the logic is that soldiers will be barred from the system designed to help them find work, and so will just be allowed to "fester".

So, it is now clear for all to see, that this is not meant to be a wonderful, helpful thing for the disabled. It is just a vindictive and dangerous way of saving money. We already knew that but by his actions Cameron has just PROOVED it.

It actually makes perfect sense (having thought about it). If the limbless and obviously genuinely disabled army personnel had been tested they'd have routinely been found 'fit to work' just like the rest of us. This would have shown the tests up for what they are, a device to deny genuine claimants their benefit entitlements. That's why they've made the exemption for the armed forces. The whole scam would have become obvious.

I hope you are feeling better and will soon be back home with your family.Thank you so much for this blog, it puts into words beautifully my thoughts and feelings when I read this Sun piece via Twitter. Let's hope Cameron lives to regret saying this!

[QUOTE]Mo Stewart has left a new comment on the post "Hoist by His own Petard?":

I haven't been on this site for a long time and want to thank Sue for raising this vital matter. I AM a disabled War Pensioner - veteran - which means I was disabled in military service pre-2005 when a new forces compensation scheme was introduced.If 'divide and rule' was the objective of Cameron's announcement then, judging from above comments, he appears to have succeeded. Disabled veterans don't claim to be more important than any other disabled person and, given the disgusting comments by the so called 'political editor' ie TOM NEWTON DUNN of the Sun, making reference to the 'same grilling as suspected cheats and scroungers' then this is HOW Cameron WILL divide and conquer if you let him. How about sending an email to good old Tom at: t.newtondunn@the-sun.co.uk to educate this dangerous excuse for a journalist.... I have, and he was a bit surprised as to my reaction to his news given that I am one who will benefit from not being persecuted by totally bogus DWP so called medical assessments. I have spent over 2 years researching these welfare reforms and, the bottom line is, this has been planned since Thatcher back in 1992 and the entire operation is to disguise the fact that the UK is moving towards US style future healthcare, to be funded by private healthcare insurance: www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatosveterans.html will give you all the disturbing info.So please Bill Kruse, and others, understand that this isn't anything to do to do with disabled veterans being more important than others, it's a political decision and was made to get IDS out of a big problem, to stop people like me writing to AVM Paterson - whose the Chief Exec of the Veterans Agency - and to make people like you attack the disabled veterans instead of attacking this very dangerous gvt.[/QUOTE]

The point I try to make is that like so much of welfare reform this decision can't be justified. Any suggestions they might offer clearly can't hold water. I feel myself the reason vets won't have to take the test is because if they did they'd inevitably be found fit to work no matter how disabled they are. That would reveal to the public how phony the testing is.

Hi there, I'm writing an article for a disability magazine and I'm looking for a disabled person who works in the public sector. With such a famous blog and plenty of contacts I thought you might be able to help me track the right person down. Please email me at rfulto200@caledonian.ac.uk if you think you might be able to help! I couldn't find your email address on the site. Rachael

Regards war pensioners you have to realise that some of us are under the old scheme and the only compensation we get is through the benefits we receive,had we been injured we would be claiming from work insurance.So it is right that we get treated differently given we were working for the crown at the time of our injury.However i am well aware that the proposed PIP is flawed and designed to stop disabled people getting any form of assistance via mobility,the knock on effect will create a massive loss of revenue for the car industry to the point where jobs will be lost.Poorly thought out and biased in favour of the government but they fail to see the financial losses further down the chain.

Hi Marsh,Usually I am not regular to read article on blogs, but I would like to say that this write-up very pressured me to check out and do it! Your writing taste has been surprised me. Thank you, quite nice article.

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